Cydia latiferreana

Status

NATIVE

DOMESTIC SURVEY

Taxonomy

Cydia latiferreana (Walsingham) (Tortricidae: Olethreutinae: Grapholitini)

Common names: filbertworm

Synonyms: aurichalceana (Melissopus), inquilina (Cydia)

Notes: Cydia latiferreana is known as Melissopus latiferreanus in much of the economic literature. Melissopus was synonymized with Cydia by Brown (1983)Brown (1983):
Brown, R. L. 1983. Taxonomic and morphological investigations of Olethreutinae: Rhopobota , Griselda , Melissopus , and Cydia (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Entomography 2: 97-120., but this is highly questionable. Cydia latiferreana may be a complex of several closely related species distinguishable by genitalia. See the "Adult Recognition" section below for more information.

Adult Recognition

FWL: 6.0–9.5 mm

Adult forewing color is extremely variable and ranges from pale tan to orange red to dark brown. Most individuals are marked with two metallic transverse bands that run from costa to dorsum. Hindwings are dark brown.

Male genitalia are equally variable. Heinrich (1926)Heinrich (1926):
Heinrich, C. 1926. Revision of the North American moths of the subfamilies Laspeyresiinae and Olethreutinae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum. 132: 1-216. designated seven different forms (type A-G) based on variation in the dorsally projecting extensions of the tegumen and lateral projection off the aedeagus. The different forms are somewhat geographically isolated, and are assumed to constitute a species complex, although there have been no conclusive studies that demonstrate this to be the case.

Female genitalia are variable in the shape of the sterigma, but all forms have two moderate thorn-like signa in the corpus bursae. 

Larval Morphology

The following account is summarized from MacKay (1959)MacKay (1959):
MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338..

Mature larva approximately 12–15 mm in length; width of head 1.3–1.4 mm; head yellowish brown, darker pigmentation present laterally; prothoracic shield and anal shield yellow or brown; body, legs whitish gray; anal fork absent; SV group on A1, 2, 7, 8, 9 most commonly 3:3:2:1:1 but highly variable.

Detailed figures of larval chaetotaxy are available in MacKay (1959)MacKay (1959):
MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338..

Similar Species

Cydia latiferreana is unlikely to be confused with any other North American tortricid. The orange-brown forewing and distinctive silver fasciae will readily separate it from all other species.

Distribution

Cydia latiferreana is widely distributed across North America and northern Mexico but is absent from the Central and Northern Rocky Mountains and boreal Canada.

Biology

The following account is summarized from Dohanian (1940).

Cydia latiferreana completes multiple generations over most of its range. Adults may be present March to November in southern locations with reduced flight periods in the North.

Larvae feed within the fruits (acorns, nuts, and burrs) of Quercus (oak), Fagus (beech), Corylus (hazelnut and filbert), and Castanea (chestnut). Overwintering occurs in the soil or leaf litter, and pupation occurs the following spring. Larvae have also been reported to infest oak galls produced by cynipid wasps.

Commonly known as the filbertworm, C. latiferreana is a pest of cultivated filberts and hazelnuts.

Plant Associations

View full screen host table here

Links

Additional photos and a distribution map of this species in North America are available at Moth Photographers Group.